A Robin's Final Fantasy
by SoulEvangile
Summary: After killing Grima, Robin didn't just fade, he turned to crystal. Awakening along with Fang and Vanille, how will he deal with another world being threatened by godlike beings.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So after the overwhelmingly posit** **ive response to my FFXIII Crossover idea, I decided to give it the go ahead. Now this word of warning, this first chapter is RUSHED as hell. The Prologue of XIII is very lackluster and underwhelming...like the story itself. Getting into the main action was my main goal here so I decided to just get this done. A second chapter will be up in the next two weeks, and won't feel nearly as bad as this one does, I will admit not happy with this overall. But taking my time with it felt wrong too.**

 **Disclaimer: Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems, Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix, I own nothing in this story.**

 **Anyway on with the story!**

* * *

Prologue- Thirteen

He had done it. The finishing blow. Chrom had just been about to deal it himself, but Robin had pushed him out of the way. The look of betrayal on his face as he did it would be with him as he went. His future self, the one who had given in to the Fell Dragon's call's, looked aghast at the audacity he had had. But he could do nothing in his weakened state.

Robin glanced back at his friends…his family, the Shepherds. They had been through so much together, two wars, and now this. While he now knew where he came from, Robin knew that the men and women of the Shepherds were his family. But there was one in them that he could call his true family. He watched as his daughter, Morgan, fell to her knees, they still didn't know who her mother was. Chrom's daughter, Lucina, hadn't known where she came from, and was just as surprised at the white haired girl's introduction. It was clear that she was from another time period entirely, but since Morgan had amnesia, the same as he had had, she could only remember him.

"Robin?! Why?!" Chrom shouted at his brother in all but blood.

"I'm sorry Chrom, but this was the only way." The white haired man replied, he could feel himself fading away.

"We could have found a way!" The prince cried, tears falling down, his wife and daughters barely able to hold him back.

"It was too risky, we can't control what may happen in a thousand years. This is only way to know…that the future would be spared." Robin smiled back. He was translucent at this point, he didn't have much time left. The tactician looked at his feet, he noticed that they were turning a faint white, and it was rising quickly. "May we meet again…in a better life." The tactician closed his eyes. The white glow overtook his body, and he faded from existence.

* * *

The man opened his eyes, he felt strange. As if by instinct, he raised his arm, as if expecting a hand to be there to pick him up…there wasn't one. He looked at his hand, the accursed mark was still there. But rather than being purple, it was a crystal white. He recalled what had happened before now. Chrom, crying, Grima, fading…and crystal.

"Whe-where am I?" Robin asked himself, the first thing he noticed was that he was not outside as he had been found before. There was no clear sky, but rather a yellowish green ceiling far above him. The walls were also the same colour. Raising himself from the ground to a sitting position, there were four podiums surrounding him. Two where bare, but the other two, had crystal statues of females on them. The architecture was something he had never seen before, it was as if the whole place was made of metal, far different from the stone and wooden buildings he was used too.

The light that filled the place was not from fire, but from some crystal like stones that shone brightly. Robin turned back to the statues, their design looked as though it would have taken years to have been crafted. The elegant craft was amazing and he couldn't look away. He had lost track of time, when the one of the taller woman began to glow.

To Robin's surprise, the crystal started fading away, as if it never existed at all. He looked away once he realised that she wasn't wearing any clothes, but when he looked back, they had appeared on her out of thin air. Then, as if being controlled by some unknown force, she floated to the ground right next to him.

The woman wore a blue, one sleeved toga over the top of a black vest. Her hair was a striking dark brown that covered her face, her left arm bore a tattoo of a that seemed to resemble that of a wolf's face, fangs bared. A brown belt with two buckles helped keep the toga in place, as well as carrying what appeared to two fox tails. She wore brown toeless and heelless boots that had straps up to just below her knee. She wore a multitude of different accessories, there was a flat ended polearm that was on her back. But the main thing that drew Robin's attention, was the mark on her right arm, it was made up on a multitude of arrows, pointing outwards, and had an opened eye in the centre of it, but what was striking about it, was that it was the same colour as his mark. He was just about to wake her up and ask where he was when the other statue started to glow as the first one did.

Knowing what was about to happen, Robin looked away as the crystal shell melted, and as with the first woman, this girl was also floated to the ground. First off, she was smaller than the first girl, he hair was an orange pink, she had a multitude of decorations adorning her and wore a pink 'top' that only covered he chest. She wore a sunset orange skirt that faded to yellow at its edges and had a fur…outer skirt? That was what Robin guessed anyway. Her heeled boots were a light brown and had a woollen collar at the shin.

Unlike the first woman, who was still sleeping, the girl woke up almost instantly. She kept her eyes closed as she rose from the floor, stretching and yawning. Being a crystal for who knows how long is killer on the muscles. She opened her eyes looking around, before her eyes focused on the woman lying on the ground.

"Fang!" She cried, she had an accent that Robin had never heard before, rushing over to the sleeping woman. "C'mon, wake up." She called, shaking her.

"Ummm, Vanille, what time is it?" The woman now known as Fang replied, sleepily.

"I don't know." Vanille answered.

"Then why are you waking me up?" Fang asked, scowling.

"Because we're inside the Fal'cie!" The girl cried. Robin had no idea what a Fal'cie was, but he was guessing it was something important.

"What?!" The older girl shouted springing awake, she looked all around her, trying to remember how she got there. But her memories, there was like a cloud blocking her most recent ones. It was not long after that, did her eyes fall upon the man that was with them.

"Urrrrh…hi?" Robin tried to smile, waving pathetically. He soon found the now pointed polearm aimed at his face.

"Vanille, get behind me!" Fang spoke menacingly, glowering at the man.

"Fang, what are you doing?" the younger girl asked.

"This guy, I've never seen him before, and his clothes look nothing like what we've seen on Pulse." The older woman replied.

"Pulse? What's that?" Robin tried to ask, only to find the lance being close to his face.

"How could you not know of Gran Pulse? What are ya, daft?" Fang glared.

"I'm sorry, but I've never heard that name before. I don't even know where here is?" The tactician reasoned.

"Fang, I think he's telling the truth." Vanille added.

"Fine, but I don't trust you." The woman relented, much to Robin's relief. "So, you got a name or what?"

"Wouldn't be the first time." Robin muttered. "My name is Robin, a tactician for the country of Ylisse." He greeted raising to his feet.

"Ylisse? I've never heard of that village before." Vanille spoke up. "And there aren't many places on Pulse we don't know of. Oh, and my name's Vanille." The pinkette introduced.

"You sure we should trust him Vanille, for all we know, he could be from Cocoon." Fang whispered to the girl.

"He's just as confused as we are. Robin might be able to help us." The bubbly girl smiled.

"Alright." The older woman sighed. "Hey Rob, when did you get here?"

"I don't remember, I woke up not long before you two stopped…being crystals?" He finished unsurely.

"Crystals? You mean we've been in Crystal Stasis for who knows how long?" Fang asked desperately. "And I can't remember how we even got here."

"If that's what you call it. I remember, having to defeat a dragon. I was saying goodbye to my friends, then I woke up here." Robin relayed, making sure to leave out anything too suspicious.

"Then you simply completed your focus…damn!" The older woman surrendered.

"Focus?" The tactician questioned, so many things he didn't know.

"And you call yourself a tactician! You completed it and didn't even know what it was!" Fang shouted, her anger showing through.

"Fang!" Vanille reprimanded. "A focus is a task you are given from a Fal'cie when you are first branded as a L'cie. All you are given is a hazy vision, it's up to you what you do with it." The girl explained.

"If I was branded, I can't remember by what and who." Robin explained, deciding to play along.

"Do you know where your brand is?" The older woman asked.

Robin hesitated, he had seen the mark on the girl's arm, and the Mark of Grima looked nothing like it. Reluctantly he held out his hand.

Fang took a hold of his hand and glared at it with a critical eye. It didn't look like a Pulsian brand she had seen, and it definitely didn't look like a Cocoon one. It was a weird mark, it looked like two lines crossing over, and they had three eyes each, for some reason, it looked like the six eyes were staring at her.

"Can't say I recognise it, but it's easily a l'cie brand, but it's just as messed up as mine." Fang commented, looking at her arm. "Hey, Vanille, you remember how we got into crystal stasis? I can't remember what our focus was." The older woman asked.

"I…I don't remember." The girl hesitated. Fang didn't seem to notice, but Robin did.

"What do you propose we do then?" Robin asked.

Fang sighed, loathed she was to trust him, they needed as much help as they can get. "We need to figure out our new focus, we all woke up at the same time. First order of business is to get out of here and figure out where the hell we are." The Pulsian decided, moving forward.

"No arguments there." Robin agreed, following behind.

The place was a maze, rising platforms and other things that left Robin more confused than he would've liked. The advanced technology was so far above what he had known. Even Fang's weapon which seemed primitive to some of the things he had seen, was still more advanced than he knew about. Back in Ylisse, magic and tomes where the furthest they had made it in technological advancements. The Snapshot Tome that one of the Anna's owned was the most surprising thing he had ever seen before now.

Luckily, Fang and Vanille seemed to know their way around, and they had soon found the exit. Stepping out, the trio had to cover their eyes at the sheer brightness of the 'sun'. Regaining vision, Fang stared at the sun, and growled.

"Damn! We're on Cocoon." She announced, how she was able to know that Robin had no clue.

"How can you tell?" Robin asked her.

"This weather and sunlight, it's artificial. It's made by a fal'cie." Fang answered. "We need to lay low, we'll find a way out of this place tomorrow."

"But where are we gonna go Fang?" Vanille asked her sister figure.

"Somewhere, we'll just jump on the first train outta here tomorrow." The older girl announced.

The rest of the day passed quickly for them. It was soon night time, Robin loved watching the sunset, but here, it didn't feel the same. The sun never once dipped. "Fang was right, it is artificial." He said to himself.

Sleeping was no easy feat, without any tents or camping supplies, they were forced into the forest and had to sleep on the floor. Fang had decided that they needed a constant watch and had volunteered for the first one, saying she would wake up Robin later in the night. Robin struggled to sleep a wink that night, left to his thoughts he remembered all of his times spent with the Shepherds. Hoping they would bring him some form of comfort in this new place.

"I'm sorry Chrom, Morgan, everyone...I had to do it. It was the only way." Robin said to himself.

"Who were they?" A bubbly voice asked him. Robin reacted the only way he could think of…he yelped, luckily not loudly enough to alert Fang.

"Vanille, I thought you were asleep?" The tactician asked the Pulsian.

"It's hard too, we've been asleep so long anyway." The girl replied. "But who are those people? You seemed close."

"It's a long story. But I'll tell you if you want to know." Robin conceded.

"We have the time, I think Fang just said she would alert you, I don't think she will though." Vanille countered.

"Alright. Well, I guess it started with me waking up in a field, to the people who I would go on to call my greatest friends. Similar to you and Fang, I couldn't remember what I was doing. But unlike you I had full amnesia, I didn't even know my name." The white haired man started.

And so, he told Vanille his story, how the two friends were royalty. He told her about the men and women of the Shepherds, the people he would call his family. The mysterious time traveller who knew of the future and helped prevent her death at the hands of some assassin's. How he was able to get them through every battle without losing anyone. Of his greatest failure when he couldn't save Chrom's older sister. He noticed how Vanille teared up at that part.

"We were able to escape with our lives, but the loss hit us hard. Morale was at an all time low, and then there was the battle at the Midmire…a battle neither side won. The enemy general, Mustafa. He heard Emmeryn's plea, as did most of his men. But his family had been threatened by Gangrel. Chrom was overcome with grief and anger, he wouldn't listen to reason. We were able to defeat them, but I would never call it a victory." Robin continued.

"That…that sounds so awful." Vanille commented between sobs.

He continued about how everyone was able to rally behind Chrom, that they were able to defeat the Mad King of Plegia. The two years of peace that followed, watching as all of his friends started marrying each other. Chrom marrying his friend Sumia, and then the baby they had had together. Then he told her about the Valmese invasion. Having to ally themselves with the new King of Plegia.

"We had arrived at the meeting point, it was a deserted island with a castle but was completely barren other than that. Camp was set up as me, Chrom and Frederick when to negotiate with them. The new king though, he was someone who we didn't expect. He was the leader of the assassin's that had tried to murder Emmeryn, we were certain we had killed him. But here he was standing before us." The tactician revealed.

"How was that possible?" Vanille asked in disbelief.

"He had been revived, but I'll go more into it later. He gave us a generous offer of many ships, oil and promised to fund the war. We accepted, but then introduced a man he called the hierophant. You see Validar was part of a religious cult known as the Grimleal, in fact he was the leader of the whole thing, and told us we couldn't leave unless we received Grima's blessing." Robin continued.

"What happened then?" The girl urged.

"The hierophant, he said something quiet and weird, then Frederick asked him to take down his hood, saying it was rude to have it up front of royalty. It was the worst thing, the man. He looked exactly like me." The tactician explained.

"B-but…then he was your twin?" Vanille questioned.

"Worse…he WAS me." Robin answered. "And Vailar would later tell me…I was his son."

"No way." The girl nearly shrieked, making sure to keep her voice down.

"Remember that time traveller, Marth, I told you about?" Robin asked her.

"Y-yeah." The Pulsian replied.

"That, was actually Lucina, in her time, Grima had been resurrected, the world was in an apocalyptic state. Grima's undead army roamed the everywhere, no place was safe, and the last of humanity was in shambles. It was only the children of the Shepherds who were left, and they were given the chance to travel back in time, to save their future. Unfortunately, Grima, he followed them." The white haired man explained.

"Wow, it seems so unbelievable. Wait, you said Grima followed them back, and that there was two of you…then…tha-that means." Vanille, stuttered, having figured it out.

"Yes…my future self. He had given in to him, and had killed Chrom. We had been able to defeat the Valmese at the time. But, Validar, he was an expert in dark magic, he could control me with some blood magic." Robin continued.

"But what about you? Were you able to fight back?" The girl questioned.

"For that I would need to explain some more." Robin confessed. He started telling her about the Valmese war and how they were able to find the future children. He told her about the Voice of Naga, who was her daughter Tiki, and how she was over three thousand years old, how she mistook both Lucina and himself for Marth. Robin explained the how Basillio, the West Khan of Regna Ferox sacrificed himself to defend them from the Valmese leader, but had really gone into hiding to shield himself from Valiar's spies. About Say'ri and Yen'fay, the Chon'sin leaders, and how Say'ri had to kill her brother as he played a ruse of betrayal, about the obese worm Excellus and his ambition. He told her how Walhart fell.

"Then, we were able to make it home. Chrom explained of an ancient set of ruins next to Ferox's port. We thought we had found all of the children since all the married couples of the Shepherds had met their children. But, then we found Morgan." The tactician remarked.

"You said that name before, who were they?" Vanille asked.

"Morgan…Morgan was my daughter." Robin answered, hearing Vanille's gasp. "The problem, was that none of the other children had met her before, she too had amnesia and could only remember me. We were never able to find her mother."

"I-I'm so…I'm so sorry." The girl cried, openly weeping.

Robin started to enter the final stretch. He told her about the Fire Emblem, and how it, along with Chrom's sword, the Falchion was what defeated Grima a thousand years before. How they had acquired four of the five gemstones, and Vaildar informed then that he had the fifth and final one. He explained about how Validar had tricked them and used his blood control magic to make him take the Fire Emblem from Chrom and give it to him. About Lucina's plans to kill him, and that he would've accepted it, had Chrom not interfered. Next up where the Dreadlords and the assault on Grima's Table. How even then, Validar was able to control and how he had stabbed Chrom with an electric rod, but hadn't killed him by weakening its power. How Basilio appeared again and they were able to finally put Validar down.

"But then, Grima appeared and announced that he didn't need the Fire Emblem, or me, to awaken Grima, since he himself had already done it before. I was able to use the distraction to reclaim the Emblem and then we had to travel to Prism Mountain. So Chrom could perform the Awakening ritual. That would give us the power to defeat him. But Naga told us, that it would only put him to sleep again. Only Grima could kill Grima." Robin revealed.

"But he would never willingly kill himself would he." Vanille spoke.

"That's…that' where I come in. I was Grima, so I could deal the final blow. But doing so, would kill me too." The tactician explained.

"And then what?" The girl asked.

"It was the final battle. Naga teleported us onto the dragon's back. But he was so powerful, he nearly killed us as soon as we appeared. He gave me an ultimatum. Sacrifice myself, or all my friends would die. But I knew, he would've killed them anyway. Grima then put me in a black void, I…I felt like I was dying, it was so cold. I was able to escape and fight back, thanks to my family not giving up on me." Robin smiled, remembering the moment that happened not too long ago for him. "We fought throw the Grimleal, and we were able to weaken him. Chrom was about to deal the final blow…but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do it myself, I pushed him out of the way, and dealt the blow myself…I could feel myself growing weaker, fading from reality. The pain I put my family through, I will remember it till the day I die." Robin explained, sadly.

"But if you were dying, how did you end up here?" Vanille asked.

"As I was fading...I could see crystal starting to envelop me. Then, I woke up not long before you guys did." The tactician finished.

"Wow, that's so much to take in…I guess…I guess I owe you an explanation. Me and Fang…we were also part of war." The girl started. "We had been put on the front lines as a special unit…get close…and destroy Cocoon."

"What?" Robin was surprised. Despite the story, he had told, the knowledge that the girls he was now with had had a similar experience to him was…well it was uncanny.

"Our focus…was to become Ragnarock…and destroy this place. However, it was only Fang who became that monster. She was only able to destroy a part of the outer shell, she didn't have enough power. When she transformed back…we were forced into Crystal Stasis…she had become Ragnarock but I don't understand how it happened." Vanille explained. "I…I can't let Fang have to deal with that knowledge…I…I don't like knowing the part I played…it hurts…it hurts so much." The girl cried, burying her face into his chest. Robin did his best to calm her.

The Fal'cie that controlled the weather decided that now was the time for sunrise, it passed quickly. Robin noticed that Fang was walking towards them, probably to wake them up. But seeing the younger girl in the man's arms put her on high alert and she ran towards them.

"What happened?!" She demanded, double checking her to make sure she wasn't injured.

"She had a nightmare, I think she's cried herself to sleep though." Robin lied.

"She's too young for this. Anyway, I came to tell you that someone walked into the Fal'cie, a girl. If she's not careful she could get turned into a l'cie." Fang explained.

"You want me to follow her and make sure nothing happens to her?" The tactician asked.

"Yeah, it'll be trouble for everyone if she's branded." The elder woman said.

"Alright." Robin replied, trying to hand Vanille of too Fang. But the younger girl wouldn't let go.

"Don't…don't go." The girl muttered in her sleep.

"It can't be helped, look after her or else." Fang threatened, reluctantly leaving them.

The older Pulsian disappeared into the brush, walking back towards the vestige.

"Good thing I was pretty much the therapist for my army." Robin chuckled to himself, before feeling his eyelids start too droop. The tactician finally able to get some sleep.

He wasn't able to get much sleep. Fang returned not much time later. She shook both of them awake.

"We gotta get out of here, the Fal'cie branded that girl. She's gonna go through hell." Fang explained to them.

And that was that. They were on the run. They didn't know where they were going. A few days passed, Vanille had more nightmares, and either Robin or Fang had to calm her down. Robin explained some more of his time to the girl, and of more of the Shepherds. They had encountered some wild animals, and they were much different than what Robin was expecting. Plants that were alive and looked like jello, bird like creatures that could use magic and summon its allies. Robin was surprised at how well the two girls fought.

Fang was brutal in her onslaught, cutting and slicing them down as if they were mere inconveniences, Vanille used some kind of rod, that fired sharp hooks on strings that grabbed and cut enemies. Robin was thankful he still had his tome and sword with him, but Fang had advised against using magic, in case civilians were nearby. In this world, magic wasn't commonplace, but rather the innate ability was locked inside each person, the brand of a l'cie unlocked someone's magical potential, and so Robin was forced into using his sword, while he had trained with both Lon'qu and Chrom, his skills where still nowhere near their levels. Before they knew it, found themselves at a power plant. The group had snuck their way inside and were now standing in front of a window that gave them full view of a fal'cie.

"We can't keep running like this." Robin started, as they took a chance to catch their breath.

"You're right Rob." Fang agreed. "We need to start thinking what our focus is."

"But how are we supposed to figure it out?" Vanille asked.

"Well, we're Pulse l'cie on Cocoon. And we just so happen to have a Cocoon fal'cie in front of us." The older girl started.

"Fang…are you suggesting we attack that thing?" The tactician questioned.

"Look, it's our closest shot! And if we don't start doing somethin', then the fal'cie is just gonna start making more l'cie to do our job. Like that girl, the other day!" Fang shouted. "Look, this is our best chance right now."

Robin looked at Vanille, he remembered back to their talk on the first day. She really didn't want to do this. Bring more pain to people, but Fang's reasoning was sound. They couldn't really argue against it.

"Alright Fang." Vanille surrendered, unsheathing her rod. Robin followed suit, wielding his tome and sword. They stood facing the fal'cie ready to smash the glass in, but a high pitched voice behind them halted them.

"Hey, what are you doing?" A young boy asked. He looked no older than six, and was wearing red and blue dungarees. His black hair was shaped in an afro, a style that Robin had never seen before.

Distracted, they looked towards him, but then the fal'cie roared. It was stunning that was for sure, and the poor kid behind them was caught in it.

"Daddy!" The kid cried. Out of the corner of Robin's eye, he saw a brief glow appear on the child's hand. The small boy fell unconscious from the event, and a new mark had appeared on the back of his hand.

"Oh no!" Vanille cried rushing over to him.

"Of all the things…a little kid would run here." Fang grunted. "A boy that young won't stand a chance."

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"The fal'cie…it branded him." The younger Pulsian announced, revealing the brand. It was very different to the one that Fang had on her shoulder, it seemed more refined. It had a spade at the top with an intricate pattern in it, it had what appeared to be a spire that ran down from it, sticking out at different points.

"Gods." The tactician whispered.

"Put him on that bench, the guards are gonna arrive soon." Fang commanded.

Robin took the child from Vanille and carried him to the nearby bench, the younger girl knelt before him and gave him a silent pray, before they ran out of the room. They could hear the marching of guards behind them.

"Damnitt, we'll be surrounded in no time." The older Pulsian grunted, slamming her fist into the wall.

They had ran into a room with two entrances and a door with a button next to it. Fang had pressed the button and the door opened. She pushed Vanille in the room, she then turned towards Robin.

"You're going to need some help." He said.

"Which is why I have to do this." Fang replied, hitting him in the neck, knocking him out. She then chucked the tactician into the elevator as well.

"What are you doing?" Vanille asked her, worried for her safety.

"Making sure you're safe, and he's gonna be protecting you." Fang replied pressing random buttons, before stabbing the control panel with her lance.

"Wait! FANG!" The younger girl tried to cry, but the metal door had already closed. "FANG! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

"I'm sorry." She whispered through the door, hearing the mechanisms whir into action. She ran away from the door, and stood her ground in the centre of the room. "You guys want some. Your fight's right here!" Fang cried, whirling her lance around herself.

* * *

Robin awoke not long after. He didn't know where he was after Fang had knocked him unconscious, but Vanille had been dragging him a decent distance. They had been caught by some security, but by some sheer luck, they had mistaken them as tourists that had gotten lost while evacuating and had guided them onto a 'train' that was taking them to a place called Bodhum.

It was a long ride, it had taking them a whole day to get there. But compared to the four that they had walked to get to the plant, it was nice to be able to rest. Vanille had cried herself to sleep again, blaming herself for Fang staying behind, wishing she was stronger, Robin couldn't blame her. He had had to deal with the same problem many times within the Shepherds, with people such as Severa, Lissa and Noire to name a few.

The girls wish not to harm anyone was incredibly lofty, but one he could admire. Having been fighting for as long as he could remember, not having to do it anymore, he would jump at the opportunity.

"Welcome to Bodhum." A voice over the speaker's announced. "We hope you have enjoyed your ride, we hope you ride with us again soon."

"Hey, Vanillle we have to get off." Robin shook the sleeping girl. Vanille struggled to wake, but she was able to get up.

"Mmmm, okay." She mumbled, standing and stumbling, but she was able to regain her balance by grabbing onto the tactician, the situation reminding Robin of two Pegasus Knights he knew.

The departed the train and some stewards asked them if they had any luggage. Robin replied saying that they hadn't, making the man look at them confused, before seemingly realising what happened.

"I see you were evacuees from the Euride Gorge incident, we hope to get you moving to your home soon." He bowed.

"T-thank you." Robin replied.

Leaving the station, the pair ended up just walking around, lost and curious, at least when they were travelling they had been able to survive off of the animals they had hunted. But in the city, they were in trouble. Looking at his coin purse, he wasn't sure how much the gold coins were worth.

Moving to what he thought was a store he asked Vanille if she could wait outside, if only to avoid suspicion. He walked up to the counter, not noticing the pink haired woman behind him looking at him with suspicion.

"Umm, excuse me." Robin spoke grabbing the clerk's attention. "Can you tell me how much this worth?" He asked withdrawing a gold coin.

"Sir…this is solid gold, how the hell did you get your hands on this?" The man asked, glancing at the woman, who nodded back.

"I've had this for as long as I can remember." Robin replied.

"I'm sorry kid, but this is just too suspicious, the fact that it looks like you have a whole bag of the stuff, I apologise for this." The clerk explained.

"You're under arrest." A female voice sounded behind him.

"What?" Robin asked, in shock.

The woman in front of him had bright pink hair and wore a white coat with a dark green jumper underneath and brown skirt. The coat had a multitude of buckles and belts. She wore blue gloves with steel knuckles on them. Her left shoulder had a silver pauldron with yellow marks on it.

She put some shackles on his hands that released a blue light that forced his arms together. The officer confiscated his coin purse and read him his rights…not that he knew that they were he was still dazed. She led him out of the store, and he noticed that Vanille was not in his direct line of sight, looking around he saw her hiding in an alley, with a worried expression on her face.

Rather than being guided to a dungeon as he was expecting, he was instead guided to a 'police station'. The woman made no further comments after her long speech about his rights. Walking inside, a man at the desk was sorting through some paperwork, but the sound of the sliding door distracted him.

"Welcome back, Sergeant Farron." He saluted.

"At ease. Must you do that every time." The pink haired woman sighed.

"You're my commanding officer, ma'am. I must address you as such." The man said, dropping his salute but keeping his attitude. "Another arrest?"

"Yeah, this man was in possession of some gold coins, he was trying to pawn them off for some col." Farron explained. "The clerk believed it was too suspicious for him to go free."

"Alright, how long is he being held here?" The desk man asked.

"Only till the festival, he looked confused when he was arrested. I don't think he stole them." The officer replied.

"What's this, Lightning Farron going soft?" The man teased.

"Don't push your luck, Jim." She glared, before leading the white haired man away

Robin was guided into the cell, which, rather than the steel grates he was used to seeing, from the other side, it was made of yellow beams that crossed over each other. The cell had a toilet, a bed and a bookcase. At least he had something to keep him busy.

He didn't know how long he was lost in the books before the officer from the desk got his attention.

"Hey kid, ya know you get a free phone call." Jim told him. Robin didn't know what a phone was, but he didn't have anyone to call anyway, including Jim and that officer, he only knew four people.

"I…I don't have anyone to phone." Robin replied looking away from the man.

Jim sighed. "Alright, you'll be here for five days before you'll be released. We're keeping you here for your own safety, we'll have a meal delivered to you at regular intervals. Dinner will arrive in thirty minutes. Just don't cause any trouble." The guard said before leaving Robin to his reading.

* * *

Five days flew by, Robin had engrossed himself in the books and studied the worlds history and mythos, and what he had learnt was incredible. He was released in the morning, and he knew that his main goal now was to find Vanille, he doubted she had left the town but finding her was still a task. Especially since he didn't know his way around.

The streets were littered with stalls, each having trinkets and souvenirs, he watched one man with blonde hair and long coat pick up matching necklaces. The Seargant had said that he was being released at the start of a festival, and Robin could tell how much of a tourist attraction it was. Similar to a few he had had the pleasure of witnessing while in Ylisstol, the place was filled with crowds enjoying their time. Trying to the young Pulsian girl was akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

While he was annoyed that they had taken his coin purse, they had at least compensated him with some of the local currency, so he was at least able to get some food and drink when the time came, though Robin was disappointed that they had no bear meat, but by no means was he disappointed in the meal he had eaten. He had eaten at a seaside restaurant rather than a stall, it had been reasonably packed, tourists interested in trying the cuisine.

Night came quickly, people started gathering in the centre of the town. Overhearing a group of tourists, apparently, there was going to be a display of some kind, Robin didn't know what fireworks were, but if it was anything like the presentations mages did in Ylisse, that he had sometimes participated in, then he was looking forward to it.

There was only one problem, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone was wearing clothes that seemed suited to the warmer weather of the beach area they were, similar to the outfits that the Anna at the resort wore, and forced Chrom and some others into. The heavy cloak and baggy trousers he wore earned him some odd looks, but he did his best to ignore them.

Then there was the first explosion. Robin jumped at first, but the myriad of colours and patterns in the sky told him that this is what the fireworks were. He watched as they exploded and drew a story, all around him, people were putting their hands together, wishing on the fireworks. He was about to put his hands together, when an impact nearly sent him to the floor.

"Robin! Thank goodness you're alright." Vanille cried, hugging him tightly.

"Vanille?! Where have you been?" Robin asked the girl, thankful that she had found him.

"Me? What about you? I feared the worst when they were taking you away. What happened?" The pinkette replied.

"They thought I had stolen some gold, having a pouch of coins was a bit too suspicious for them and they arrested me. I've been in jail for the last five days." The tactician explained.

"So, it wasn't about the plant? Thank goodness." Vanille whispered.

"But what about you? We had no money, what have you eaten?" Robin asked in concern.

"I was able to meet someone after I grazed my knee, she gave me a bandage and some food to last me, I've just been wrought with worry." The girl answered. "This festival though, they say if you wish on the fireworks, it'll come true." She continued, putting her hands together the same way she had at the plant.

"Hehe, if you say so." The tactician replied, following her motions. _'I wish, that I can see my family again.'_ He wished. It may have been childish and wishful thinking, but Robin didn't care, he just wanted to see his friends again.

"Hey Robin, do you think we'll ever make it to Pulse?" Vanille asked him.

"Who knows? But we can hope." Robin replied.

The fireworks ended, and the festival was declared over. Everyone around them started making their ways to their home or temporary residence. Robin noted that there was some movement of heavily armoured men and woman carrying weapons had started into action. He was a little worried, but decided to ignore it for now.

Unfortunately, all the hotels had no vacancy's remaining, which meant that they had to sleep under the non-existent stars once more. Sleep came easy, but waking up was another thing entirely.

* * *

It was now the thirteenth day after they had awoken. Robin was having a nice dream, being back with the Shepherds, spending time with his daughter, teaching her strategies and playing chess to help implement them. But something hitting his side interrupted it. Opening his eyes, one of the armoured men was standing over him and another was waking up Vanille.

"Get up, you are being relocated to Pulse for quarantine." The man commanded.

"What?" Robin asked sleepily.

"I said, GET UP!" He shouted, pulling Robin up from the floor harshly. "Now get moving." The man instructed, jabbing him in the back.

Robin complied, with Vanille and the other man falling in beside them. Hey at least they were going to Pulse…right?

They were guided to the station, where trains were waiting for the exiled to board them. They were among the first in line, probably because they had been found on the trees close to the place. They were forced into hooded robes, with the same shackles that Robin had been forced into a few days before.

Robin could see how scared people were, the books he had read showed how much propaganda was thrown around on Cocoon to force anti-Pulse attitudes, the idea of being sent there too these people was like being sent to hell.

"Hey Robin, do you think we're gonna be alright?" Vanille asked him as the train started to leave.

"I don't know Vanille. I honestly don't know." Was all Robin could say in response, feeling the younger girl lean into him. _'This is going to be a long day.'_

* * *

 **A/N: And done...and that was probably as bad as Sonic 06's plot...leave criticism in the reviews and this will, hopefully, be better in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I live! I got some inspiration to write this story again, I have an idea in my head now I just need to surge forward and grasp it. Now, I apologise for the massive delay on this. For those who don't know, I'm a student and the since March my schedule was massively full no time to really move and inspiration for writing fell to exhaustion. As of right now, this story will enter back into my schedule of...nothing. It's difficult to promise when I don't have a plan so please be patient for the next chapter. Now onto the reviews:**

 **Guest 1: An idea like this was just something I had on the fly. XIII was what got me back into Final Fantasy, I didn't grow up with RPG's, racing games was my thing and getting games was a rare occurrence for me anyway.**

 **Guest 2: Just wait and see. *Taps finger to nose*.**

 **ARSLOTHES: All caps name, I like. I thank you.**

 **Guest 3: Here you good sir.**

 **TempestLaw: Yeah the prologue was rushed. But material for the FFXIII is severely lacking.**

 **Guest 4: It's here...It's finally here!**

 **Now I have an idea for the pairing for this story now for Robin, however I still want your guys opinions. It probably wont change my opinion since its pretty much set in stone, but I still want to here your thoughts. I'll announce the pairing on the next chapter. Now on with the story!**

* * *

Chapter 1- Purge

The train ride was quiet, the armed guards patrolled up and down the whole train. Most of the other deportees were crying silently, hushed hiccups the only noises they made, while others seemed to have accepted their fate. The pair that sat next to Robin and Vanille were a mother and son duo, the mother doing her best to keep him calm, clearly propaganda had affected him a lot while growing up.

Apparently, they were moving quite quickly, but the dark room and lack of windows prevented the tactician from knowing it, the metal jail carriage, as Robin liked to call it, barely moved and kept his central gravity normal, maybe his home world could learn something from the technology. That was until the whole thing jerked as they crashed through barrier.

"Wahh!" Vanille cried as she jerked forward, barely keeping herself from falling off of the seat, Robin himself kept from exclaiming, but the sudden change in force was a surprise for him as well.

"Back in your seats!" The guard shouted, violently picking one of the exiled up from the floor. So much for protectors of the people.

Robin growled from underneath his cloaks, as a soldier and leader, the harming of his own charges, especially by his own men, would have been enough to call for a dishonourable discharge from the forces, had it not been for the cuffs on his wrists he would have reached for his tome, his sword having been confiscated by the soldiers when he was forced onto the train. A whimper to his side brought back his attention though.

"Are you alright Vanille?" Robin asked he younger girl.

"I dunno, I'm happy and excited that we're going to Pulse, but I'm scared at the same time." She admitted in a hushed whisper, while the tactician knew that the girl normally hid her pain behind a smile, like a certain flirt he knew, scared wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

"Hopefully it's not much longer." Robin replied, not soon after he said that the train started slowing down, before it finally halted. "Speak of the devil."

"Deportees, single file, make your way off of the train." The armed guard announced, his voice muffled by his helmet.

Everyone on the train stood up, the boy that sat next to Robin seemed to grow even more fearful, his mother being the only thing calming him down, he was even shorter than Vanille was, and about the same height as Morgan, though the hood of the cloak they were forced to wear obscured his height a bit.

The line of people started moving, though it was going slowly, scared to leave the confines of their last form of safety.

"What's the hold up?! Get Moving!" The guard shouted, aiming his weapon, making sure the idea of being killed early was evident to them if they didn't start going quicker. To say it worked was an understatement.

They did indeed start to move faster, though it was clumsy, fear driving them forward. Stepping outside, Robin noticed that they were being corralled together, a line of soldiers standing in front of them receiving some orders. The guard from the train moved to the one that was giving the instructions.

"That's all of them, what happens next?" The soldier asked his commanding officer.

"Orders are to execute all prisoners, no survivors." The man answered, before being interrupted by an explosion behind them. "Rebels. This will have to wait, firing squad on me!" He commanded, motioning for his men to follow. "You! Summon a Pantheron to help guard them till we get back!"

"Yes sir!" The guard saluted, before using his fingers to work a keypad on his left arm, a portal like device behind him whirled to life, spinning and rotating, before a mechanical quadrupedal creature jumped out of it, growling at the group.

Now even Robin was worried, this wasn't an exile, it was a purge. Similar to the religious crusade Chrom's father led so long ago, this was a way of extermination, removing a threat before it could grow. The populace of Cocoon would only know it as a relocation, the truth dying with those who knew of it.

"This isn't good, we need to get out of here." Robin whispered to himself, the sounds of explosions and gunfire ripping him from his thoughts. A creaking sound drew his attention, and he noticed a mechanical scorpion creature falling into the abyss below, somehow some of the rebels were winning, but without a true weapon he could do nothing to help.

Vanille had taken to sitting on the floor, clearly not having heard the conversation from the before. Having been left to themselves, some of the group had taken to removing the heavy ceremonial robes that they had been forced into, Robin himself proceeded to do the same, wearing two forms of heavy clothing takes its toll on his body. Running a hand through his silver hair, he noticed that most of the gunfire had stopped for the time being, but had been replaced by the sound of feet hitting metal.

Looking forward, the tactician noticed a small group of people running towards, at the lead was the same man he had seen the day before who was buying the necklaces at the stall, his fist was reared back as he charged at the man that had been watching over them, socking him in the helmet with enough force that it shattered the visor, his strength rivalling that of a blonde Robin knew. Some of the others Robin recognised as the people who ran the restaurant he had been to the previous day.

The panther like creature moved to retaliate against his fallen master, but was quickly felled by gunfire from the rest of the party. Realising that there were no more hostiles in the vicinity, the rebels dropped their guard, one of them, with spiky blonde hair and a pair of goggles on his head, moved to the front carrying a large array of rifles, before promptly tripping.

"Hey, careful with those." The leader reprimanded, playfully. "Listen up, we're going home together!" He cried, raising his fist in the air, hoping for a response. As far as rousing speeches went, Robin cringed at how corny it sounded.

"Ooookayyyy, alright, lay low. We're gonna clear out the last of the PSCICOM forces, then we're-" The leader tried to say.

"Wait I want to help." One of the refugees voiced.

"Yeah you can't expect us to just sit here." Another shouted.

The blonde man seemed to be debating with himself about a response, he couldn't really argue against people actively volunteering. "Alright, all volunteer's front and centre, we'll give you a quick rundown on how to use the guns."

Men and women marched forward, eager to help the cause the rebels were giving them. Robin debated joining them, the need to protect Vanille aiding him, but also holding him back, if he died what would happen to her. Before long there were only two rifles left, finally relenting, he was just about to join them when a woman picked up one of them.

"You sure?" The blonde leader asked, the look on his face unsure about letting her go through with her decision.

"Yeah, moms are tough." She voiced with determination.

Relenting, the white cloaked man walked forward and picked up the last rifle. "Alright, last one, somebody take it." He announced, presenting the handle of the rifle to boy that had been sitting next to Vanille.

"No, no…I can't." The boy whispered, shuffling backwards.

"I'll take it." Robin said, walking towards him.

"Right, they'll be counting on you to help them." The man said towards him, showing him how the weapon worked.

' _First impressions of Snow, a lot of hidden potential, he just needed to find a way to release it. Others would say, that he would be all talk.'_

"Come on, everybody up." The woman of the group called, motioning for everybody to rise.

A blue haired boy with a yellow shirt and black trousers, also walked towards them, holding his own rifle. "We'll get you somewhere safe, away from all of this." He announced, walking onwards.

Robin watched as the group of rebel's and volunteers made their way back down the path they came from, while his group made their way towards the safe zone. He walked towards Vanille, who had engaged in conversation with the boy from earlier.

"Why did she do that?" He asked her, still unsure of his mother's decision.

"Sometimes you just feel the need to do something, whether it's to protect something or someone." The tactician answered the boy.

"But still, its that's guy's words that got to her." The boy argued resolutely.

"Words can only do so much, it's the people that listen that decide what to do with them." Robin replied to him.

"Besides, there isn't anything we can do about it now, for now we need to just keep on smiling." Vanille added, spinning around with a big grin plastered on her face, Robin chuckled at her sudden attitude change.

"I…I guess you're right." The boy relented with a sigh. They continued walking, but having fallen behind the rest of the group, they had to run to catch up, which ended with them having to cross a bridge to another suspended road.

That was until the sounds of a giant airship drew their attention to the bridgeway across from them. A large mechanical beast loomed over the bridge, then a large protrusion appeared beneath it, energy building into it as it prepared its massive weapon. When all hope seemed lost, a lone missile impacted against its hull, destroying its engine. But even then, the massive beast was able to fire its weapon, completely destroying the bridge.

Even with how far they were away, Robin, Vanille and the boy could see as the men and women on the other side struggled to find purchase on the collapsing road, slipping down into the abyss below. Two figures could be seen hanging from the edge.

"Gods, this is madness." Robin whispered, even throughout two wars and the apocalypse, he had never seen such cruelty to a state's own people. In the distance, one of the figures fell.

"Nooo!" The boy cried in anguish, watching as the body of his mother fell into the darkness, weakly reaching out in hope, completely stunned by what he had witnessed.

"We need to get out of here." The tactician instructed. Vanille tried to drag the boy, but he wouldn't budge. Until she slapped him in the face, a good one always wakes someone up, whether be it a punch or not.

"We have to move." She cried, shaking his arms.

"R-right." He managed, not all there.

* * *

They continued on their way, finally catching back up to the group of refugees, they had boarded another type of bridge, suspensions on either side kept it strong, debris acting as barricades on either side which they had been forced to climb over. Finally, being in a place of somewhat safety, Robin let loose a breath that he had been holding in brushing a hand through his hair and wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Made it, I think it's safe to take off those uncomfortable cloaks now." Robin advised, remembering how stuffy he felt wearing it, then again, he himself had been wearing another heavy piece of clothing underneath it.

"Right" Vanille replied cheerfully, as the boy just nodded.

Disrobing themselves, Vanille moved her hands through her hair, before straightening out her clothes trying to remove any ruffles from it. The boy, they were finally able to see what he looked like. His hair was silver, similar to Robin's but not near as white, he had a light blue bandana scarf around his neck with black markings. The boy wore a yellow and orange jacket which stopped before his elbow with a black shirt underneath, he wore three-quarter, light brown jeans with a blue pouch on the side and similarly coloured boots. On his hands, he wore blue and white gloves while having a yellow scarf like object at the end of each. The poor lad still seemed dazed and in shock after what happened before, and Robin couldn't blame him.

Vanille seemed to catch on as well as she wrapped her arms around him to give him some form of comfort. "It's too much, isn't it?" She asked, receiving a quick nod. Robin couldn't help but chuckle at how uncomfortable the boy looked at that time. "Sometimes the best thing to do is to keep your chin up, yeah! Ciao!" The pink haired girl spoke passionately, before jogging away, leaving Robin and the boy in her dust. How Vanille, or any female he had met for that matter, could run in heels is something he would never understand.

Chuckling, he turned back to the boy, the teens awkwardness and pain made Robin think twice of leaving him, looking after a hyper active, and possibly bipolar girl like Vanille was enough of a hassle already, but he couldn't leave the boy by himself.

"C'mon, no point in leaving you with strangers." The former tactician spoke, putting his arm on the boy's shoulder.

"R-right." He replied.

"It's a bit late to ask, but what's your name?" Robin asked.

"Hope. Hope Estheim." The boy answered.

"Well Hope, my name is Robin, and the girl before was Vanille, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The white haired man held out his hand.

"Yeah, same." Hope said, shaking it. "We should probably catch up to her though."

"Probably for the best." Robin chuckled.

Finding Vanille was easy, she stuck out like a saw thumb with her bright colours and Hope reintroduced himself to her. But Robin could see that the boy was not in the right place, he was angry, and Robin knew that the object of hate was to the blonde man that helped them before. Robin had been I that position, both the object of hate, and the one to hate another. He had hated Gangrel for what he had done to Emmeryn, and he had been hated by the nobles of Ylisse for failing her. Holding in that anger is never good for anyone, but being the object of that hate was just as bad. That was when the roaring of sounds he had never heard before, alerting everyone around him. The members of the vigilante group raised their weapons, but stood down once they saw who was there.

Looking up, he saw two vehicles that released green energy behind them. What created the energy he did not know, but then again, he was severely out of place and time. As they descended, he noticed that riding them was the bandana wearing blonde and a friend of his. The friend dismounted from his vehicle but the cloaked man stayed on his.

"Don't you want to talk to him?" Vanille asked Hope, the boy nodded hesitantly, wanting too, but unable to find the courage. Taking the initiative, the pinkette pushed Hope forward to urge him on.

"No-no, I-I can't." The boy mumbled, his nerves getting the better of him.

Feeling a bit fed up, Robin understanding why, Vanille took the initiative once more. "Hey!" She yelled, in an attempt to get their attention. Her answer was that of the same sound roaring to life again.

"When's the wedding lover boy?" The orange haired man asked.

"Don't worry, none of you are invited!" The bandana wearing man shouted back, pointing to the group surrounding him, as he rose into the air.

As the group complained, he accelerated off, heading towards the fal'cie.

"Hey, wait!" Vanille cried in a vain attempt to get his attention.

"There goes your chance, any ideas?" Robin asked Hope.

"Why don't we use that to follow him?" The pulsian girl suggested, pointing toward the left over vehicle.

Robin walked towards it, with Vanille and Hope in tow. It was pretty small, no bigger than a carriage, yet the inside was much smaller, barely looking as though it could fit two of them let alone three. It would probably be the best opportunity to get to the fal'cie, but it may be a bit too reckless.

"Alley Oop." Vanille said as she jumped in, having already deposited Hope into it. The poor Cocoonian was struggling to resist his teenage hormones as Vanille pressed against his back pointing towards the fal'cie. "That way!"

"No-no…we can't." Hope mumbled again. Robin sighed, a boy his age would have grown up around anti-Pulse propaganda, the fear of being exiled to Pulse alone was enough to put him in silence, being close to something from there would drive the poor lad into a panic attack.

"Hey what do think you're doing?!" The orange haired man from before yelled, running towards them.

"Time to go!" Robin shouted doing his best to squeeze into the small vehicle. Hope started it up and they rose slowly, the boy not having any experience with it. They rockily moved forward before suddenly dropping down.

Thinking quickly, Hope was able to regain control of the vehicle, allowing them to rise back into the air steadily.

"Hey, get back down here?!" The man shouted, making a vain attempt to jump at them. Ignoring him, the group started making their way towards the fal'cie.

* * *

The landing was not soft. When they had entered the giant mechanical structure, the insides were just too tight to make it through safely, banging against the sides, they ended up crash landing all sprewn about the floor. Groaning as he tried to sit up, Robin started rubbing his head, thanking whatever gods existed that he was still alive.

Looking towards the two children, Vanille seemed to be moving fine on her own, but with a slight limp in her step. Making sure Hope was still on the ground and not paying, she used some of the white magic she had from being a l'cie to heal the small injury she had, before doing the same to Robin and then Hope. Nodding his thanks towards her, Robin went to check on the youngest of the group.

"Hope, you alright?" He asked the still prone boy.

"Y-yeah, I'm good." Hope groaned out, before sitting up. "I'm surprised we're not that injured from that.

"Sheer dumb luck I guess." Robin chuckled. Funny, he had always been the unlucky one, being injured one way or another, his skill with magic however compensate a lot for it though.

Vanille decided to look around, making a show of being unsure of where they were supposed to go, she walked around one of the pillars, before reappearing with her Binding Rod drawn. Deciding to go along with it, Robin did his best to look impressed at the discovery.

"Not a bad find, it should be able to help." Robin spoke up, as she started going through the motions she normally did when attacking.

A growl, however, drew their attention. In front of them were two quadrupedal creatures, coloured red and white. They looked like they had no eyes and merely sat there growling at them. Robin glared at them, they were similar to some of the creatures they had fought during the days when they were on their way to Euride Gorge, but they seemed more passive, less aggressive. If anything, they seemed venerable.

"Pantherons!" Hope cried. "Domesticated peace keepers commanded by the military. They're docile when no humans are around to guide them though." He explained, apparently, school did something good for him.

"They seem easily confused, it we focus on just one at a time we'll be able to beat both in no time." Robin commented, his tacticians brain taking over. Vanille already had her Rod drawn, Hope opened the pouch on his shorts and pulled out a boomerang. Robin thought his ideas through, magic was still a no go, but a plain sword might be a bit too little for these things.

In the end, he drew his other sword, a crackled with energy as he wielded it, a zig zag pattern for the blade made it less effective for striking enemies, rather the blade was used for parrying. Not even Fang or Vanille had seen it before, as he followed the rule of no magic, but with the new knowledge he had acquired, why not abuse it? The sight of the blade, however, made Hope to stare at it in fear.

"Is that you doing that?" The boy asked.

"No, the sword is infused with a manadrive to let it channel lighting magic." Robin explained. To be honest, Robin only knew what a mandrive was from the books he had read while in jail, explaining about how while humans couldn't channel magic normally. They had been able to engineer artificial magic called manadrives to keep up with l'cie threats from Pulse, as well as for everyday life.

"Oh, alright." Hope relented, instead turning his focus to the battle.

The pantherons were easily dealt with, proving no threat to the trio. They encountered more of the creatures as well as some others, these ones being more imp like, exceptionally weak, they tried using numbers to overpower them, it laughably failed.

"HE came through here." Hope commented, emphasising the 'he'. They were still in the room but had come across the other vehicle that the other man had. "He shouldn't have come here. WE shouldn't have come here."

"How do you mean?" Robin asked, he wanted to know more of the boy's paranoia.

"This thing, it's from Pulse. Pulse is hell on Earth." Hope explained.

"What's so wrong with Pulse?" Vanille asked, walking forward.

"You really don't get it, do you?" The boy groaned.

Letting out a 'hmmph'. Vanille marched forward and began explaining everything she had come across about Cocoon's propaganda. Robin felt a little impressed at how she was able to recite that much.

"Hope." Robin sighed quietly, getting through to the boy would be almost impossible.

"Hold on Serah. Your heroes on the way!" A voice from above echoed through the room.

"That's him. Calling himself a hero." Hope growled out in rage.

Vanille looked towards Robin in worry. Hope's trauma was starting to affect him even worse. He had found a person to blame for something that someone else had done. Robin could understand why he does, but at the same time Robin sympathised with the rebel's leader. Hope's mother had made the decision to go with them, the blonde even double checking with her. Yes, the bandanna wearing man was a bit of an idealistic idiot, but Robin couldn't help but feel that the anger was being severely misplaced.

"Let's just continue. The doors down so let's go." Robin sighed out, he may have been a part time psychologist, but he never had to deal with misplaced anger.

Receiving some nods, he took the lead and moved through the newly opened path. Ahead of them were a set of stairs, not that big, but it was going to be a bit tiresome after the fighting they had done.

Trudging up them, the top was a square, acting like a pyramid, as the other paths went down similar sets of stares. Looking around, Robin was trying to decide the best way to go, that was until a strange groaning sound drew his attention. Setting his gaze down the stairs, he looked down in horror as creatures of strange crystal walked towards them. They were purple in colour and had claws that could cut through anything. Their heads were completely covered in crystals rendering them blind to their surrounding, as they shambled towards them, at the centre was an eye, the last stage of a Pulsian l'cie mark.

"C'ieth. If a l'cie fails their focus, they become c'ieth, a husk of what they once were, forced to walk the Earth in constant regret of failing their mission given to them by a fal'cie." Vanille explained.

"Gods." Robin whispered. They were completely surrounded and outnumbered, as one swiped at him, he jumped back barely avoiding the desperate attack. "Be careful, they're unpredictable."

Suddenly, the sound of fists impacting on a hard object grew the groups attention. Punching his way through the crowd of monstrosity's, the rebel leader stood in front of them protectively.

"Stay back, kids." He said, before looking at Robin. "Could use your help hear bud."

"Right." The tactician replied, drawing his blade. He rose it above his head and carefully channelled his magic into the sword, it crackled with energy before striking down in a mass thunder clap, eliminating a majority of the creatures.

Hiding his fatigue, he groaned as the blade stopped its crackling. The stone that gave it its ability had run dry and now it was just a regular blade, only good dealing glancing blows. He could still use it with magic, but that would take a lot of energy on his part.

"Damn dude. That was one heck of an attack." The blonde man whistled. "But I think you overcharged the drive on it."

"Yeah." Robin replied, looking for an opening. "There!" He announced, making sure to signal the rebel to move.

"Gotcha." He grinned, striking the nearest C'ieth. Robin's attack had gotten rid of most of the crystal creatures. The two struck down the last of the creatures, with the help of Vanille and Hope, and Robin groaned, exhausted.

"Yeah!" The rebel celebrated, raising his fist in the air. Not noticing the glare that was being sent at the back of his head.

"Thanks for the help. But what are you even doing here?" Robin asked.

"My fiancé." The man replied. "She's a Pulse l'cie."

"Why?" Hope whispered. Robin looked towards the boy, he was looking at the ground, shaking. "Why are you helping a Pulse l'cie?! They're the enemy?!" He shouted out.

"Because I want to save the woman I love." The rebel replied, with a smile. "I need to help her."

Robin appreciated that, many of the Shepherds had been adamant about keeping with loved ones, and Robin always let them. He was brought out of his reminiscing as the platform they were standing on shifted and started rising them up. Robin looked towards Hope, the boy had flinched back when the rebel gave his answer, clearly distraught and angered by his carefree attitude.

Vanille moved towards him, Robin was starting to understand some of her mannerisms. She actively sought companionship when feeling lonely or sad. If she was unsure, she would march ahead unafraid, but only because she was afraid.

"You okay?" Robin asked her.

"Do you think…that the girl is the one from before?" Vanille replied.

"I think so." He answered, receiving a whimper from the innocent girl. "Shhh, it's okay. You couldn't have done anything." Robin whispered, trying to calm her down.

She wrapped her arms around him, dug her face into his arm, trying to hide the tears. Robin could feel his arm getting wet, but he said nothing, he instead rubbed her back, just signalling for her to let it out. After a little bit, she withdrew, her normal bright smile back on her face. A smile that Robin wished was as bright as it should be, but clearly wasn't.

"Thanks." Vanille said, before letting go of him.

"No problem." Robin replied, before setting his gaze on the rebel. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced. My name is Robin." The tactician smiled.

The rebel grinned back slapping him on the back. "Snow Villiers." He replied, wrapping his arm around Robin's back. "Good job before, gotta keep the kids safe."

"Definitely." Robin spoke back, feeling a little uncomfortable at the close contact. Earning a giggle from Vanille as Hope just ignored everyone.

* * *

Continuing their journey, they rose further up on the elevator, until they reached their destination. In front of them, a pink haired girl in a white vest and shirt with a red and black plaid skirt lay on the floor, while the officer that arrested Robin sat next to her, a look of worry on her face. Off to the side was a man with black hair in the shape of an afro. He wore green cargo trousers and jacket with black boots and a black shirt. In his hair was a small, yellow creature that resembled a bird.

"Serah!" Snow cried, running off the platform towards the prone girl.

"You came." She smiled, but her voice was weak. Her hand came up and Snow gripped it tightly.

Robin could hear Vanille gasp quietly, he didn't understand why, but it was clear that she had met with her during the time when he was in the slammer.

The tearful reunion was ruined however as the girl started rising into the air, white crystals starting to appear on her body. Serah put her hands together, giving a silent pray, a single tear falling down the side of her face, as a burst of light blinded all around, the tear dropping into Snow's hand. Crystallised.

Regaining his vision, Robin looked on as the girl was now completely encased in crystal, elegant waves and spikes jutting out as she slowly fell to the ground. Putting his hand to hers, Snow looked on sadly.

"Sweet dreams, Serah." He whispered, before receiving a strong punch to his jaw.

"Sweet dreams?!" Lightning yelled. "Because of you…" She gritted her teeth, unwilling to accept it.

"The legend, remember the legend." Snow replied, standing up. "When a l'cie completes their focus, they enter a crystal sleep and gain eternal life." He explained, hope evident in his voice. "Don't you see, she's still alive."

"That doesn't matter, Serah's gone…and it's all your fault!" The officer yelled again, moving to deliver another swift strike to his jaw, before a large rocking disrupted her balance.

"The Sanctum, their attacking." The black haired man announced.

Suddenly, red tubes came through the sides of the Fal'cie, rubble tumbling down, luckily none close to any of the group, but still enough to strike fear into the youngest member of the group.

Hope crouched in a ball close to the floor, holding his hands to his head. Soon enough the quaking stopped, Robin helping the boy to his feet.

"I need to do something." Snow spoke up. Walking ahead.

"Hey, hey. Where are you going?" The green clad man asked.

"I've got a date with the fal'cie." The blonde spoke back.

"Are you crazy son! That thing wants to chew us up and spit us out. And you want try and negotiate with it?" The man asked back, feeling as though he had made his point.

"What other choice do we have?" Lightning asked, following him.

"You two." He spoke, before letting out a sigh.

"Best follow them, don't know what's ahead." Robin commented, before walking ahead, Vanille following close behind in a skip.

Relenting, the man held it his hands as the bird flew into them. "Looks like we can't catch a break Chocobo." He sighed. Looking up he saw that Hope was now following the others and was forced to follow as well.

They encountered some more c'ieth as they drew closer to the fal'cie. They encountered some different types, a new flying type of crystal creature that moved incredible erratically and was difficult to hit. While a blue c'ieth that resembled the original's but seemed to have much more control, even using magic effectively which forced the group to dodge the fire balls.

As they made it to the top of the stares, they entered a dimly lit hallway that led them to the chamber of the fal'cie. Inside was a plating and some mechanical arm like armaments. It didn't seem away that some humans had entered its abode.

Snow walked forward, before kneeling down. "Serah completed her focus. Please release her…I'll be your l'cie instead." He foolishly negotiated. He received no reply.

"Say all you want, the only thing that this thing understands is fighting." Lightning yelled, drawing her sword. She struck at the metal plates, but was repelled every time. Growling she went to attack once more, but the fal'cie seemed to finally come to life.

The two arms rose up and started turning, acting like a drill. The plating opened up revealing what looked like a heart, with a crystal in the centre. An arm like appendage in the shape of a claw acting as a form of offense and defence.

Looking around, Robin gazed as Hope took off running in fear, only to be blocked by a red barrier with the mark of Pulse on it, trapped. Vanille looked on unsure of what to do as Lightning and Snow entered into a battle stance. The man to the side also seemed unsure.

"If you want to help, then do it now." Lighting spoke.

The man looked down, before whispering something unclear to Robin, he then raised his head. "I'm in." He said resolutely. "I've got these things, might as well use them." He continued raising a pair of handguns.

"I'll help too." Robin added, moving beside them, making sure that Vanille wouldn't be in any danger.

The fal'cie let out a roar, the drill like arms stabbing into the ground, marks being left from where it struck. Lightning surged forwards towards the heart, but as she struck the claw around it swiped at her, keeping her away.

"Aim for the arms, that's the main threat right now." Robin announced. "You…er?" He tried to ask the black haired man, but he hadn't gotten his name yet.

"Sazh." He replied.

"Sazh, can you shoot at the heart, your range would stop it from hitting you." Robin advised, receiving a nod.

As Sazh started letting loose round after round at the fal'cie's heart. Robin joined Snow and Lightning in striking the armaments. The first went down easily, not having much resilience, the second one falling not so soon after. After the second one fell, the heart seemed to enter a venerable state.

"Strike the heart, its venerable!" Robin shouted, as Snow surged forward delivering a flurry of blows. The claw not reacting. "Keep going." He added joining the rebel in attacking the heart. Not so long after though, it seemed to come out of the state it was in. The armaments growing back.

"Retreat from it, aim for the armaments again, it can't fight without them." The tactician was getting back into his groove, hopefully it won't take too long.

This continued for a few more rotations, the armaments being destroyed, then focusing the attack on the heart, before the armaments grew back. Before finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they heart finally groaned out in defeat. But it still had one trump card left to play. Letting out another roar, there was a great burst of light, Robin had to draw his arm across his face to shield his eyes.

As the light faded, however, he was somewhere else entirely, around him the rest of them were with him, floating in a blue, ethereal space. In front of them was a giant creature, resembling that of a fal'cie, bells chimed as tendrils shot towards them. Robin found some locking his arms and feet in place as another found its way to his left hand. The creature let loose a roar as the bells grew louder electricity came down the tendril shocking him, before letting him go, leaving him to fall.

In his mind's eye, he could see fuzzy images. A giant creature, a falling planet, a molten substance surrounding the planet. Then nothing, as he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

 **A/N: Boom, done. Hopefully the next chapter doesn't take three months to get out. All criticism is welcome, so don't forget the reviews. Now QOTD: Who is your favourite character in FFXIII? Answers in the reviews and I'll see you all next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I finally got it out! Holy crap this took forever. I've just haven't been having the inspiration for this chapter. Honestly, this is my least favourite part of the game, its just bland an entertaining. Honestly, I feel like I've paced this chapter horribly too. Not my greatest piece of work. As soon as I make chapter 6 of FFXIII story wise, this should hopefully start flying out. Now onto reviews:**

 **Greyjedi499t: Lightning is a good character once she starts to flesh. Fang is just an overall good character in my opinion but Snow, I'm not his biggest fan honestly. Hopefully you're still looking forward to this.**

 **Tempest Law: Another vote for Snow. If anything, he's the character I feel the most sympathetic for. Also thanks, most of this I'm doing from pure memory with the characters too.**

 **Guest 1: Hope's a good character after he stops being Angsty Teen the Character, in my opinion anyway.**

 **Kamecolin: Hopefully this is good enough.**

 **Guest 2: Yeah the last part of Chapter 1 for FFXIII from Hope's and Vanille's POV feels the most underdeveloped. Also the guard said Lightning's name after she had brought Robin to the station once she had arrested him. That's how he knew her name.**

 **Hasao: You'll just gave to wait and see...probably a lot of waiting I'm afraid. Robin's weaponry...I have a few ideas for that.**

 **Guest 3: Here it is.**

 **Now onto the story...If anyone's even left around to wait for it. *Insert 'It's been 84 years meme here*:**

* * *

Chapter 2- Snowfall

Robin couldn't help but groan in pain as he came to. The hard floor was a weird mixture of smooth yet uncomfortable so he felt the need to sit up, his eyes blurry from the unwilling, but not unwelcome, rest. Rubbing the last of his sleep from his eyes, his vision exploded in a sea of ice.

' _Not ice. Crystal.'_ The tactician thought to himself. Unknown to him, underneath him was once a former lake, known as Lake Bresha. The fal'cie had fallen from its suspension and crash landed into the giant body of water. The waves created from the impact had frozen solid, creating cliffs and walls of sheer crystal.

The rest of the group still lay prone in front of him, their bodies in positions that Robin couldn't help but wince at. Yet at a glance they seemed completely fine and uninjured. A bit of movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention as the blonde brute started shifting around. Rising to his feet, stuttering around a little to regain his balance, Robin walked towards where Vanille was lying, making sure the girl was uninjured.

"Vanille, you alright?" He asked her, giving the pink haired girl a shake. She was breathing, so that was a good sign.

Groaning, Vanille seemed to regain consciousness, her eyes fluttering open. "Robin?" She asked, one eye poking over her elbow, the other being hidden by her arm.

"Yeah, it's me, everyone seems to be ok." Robin replied, knowing that that knowledge would help reassure her.

Sitting up, Vanille barely avoided banging her own head against the tacticians. Only because of Robin's quick thinking, and having already been on the receiving end of that treatment a few times the last two weeks. Stretching her arms above her head, the Pulsian girl looked around, watching as their companions all seemed to be taking in their surroundings.

"Wh-where are we?" Hope asked, gazing at the crystal lake.

"Lake Bresha, though it's not really a lake anymore." Lightning answered, as stoic as she was before.

"No one can survive a fall like that." Sazh spoke, the pathways that they had been on before wasn't even visible.

"Serah." Snow whispered, looking at the crystal tear in his hand. "Serah saved us." He spoke passionately. Robin had to admit, the guy was dedicated.

"Open your eyes, and use your head for once." Lightning bit back. "A crystal can't do anything for anyone."

"But-" The blonde tried to argue back, but the familiar groaning sound of the shambling c'ieth drew the groups attention. From all sides, the more advanced blue c'ieth they had encountered inside the fal'cie were starting to surround them. One of them directly charged at Snow, or closer too slowly meandered towards him, with its club like arm reared back. Barely managing to bring up his arms to block the blow, Snow was sent backwards before regaining his footing. On reflex, he dropped his guard to go in for a counter attack, but as he reared back his fist, the appendage started glowing an icy blue. Striking with much more force than he had anticipated, the c'ieth flew backwards, squirming around as the monster felt its life leaving it.

"What the-?!" The rebel questioned gazing at his hand in confusion.

"You used Magic!" Hope shouted in dismay. "That thing turned you into a l'cie! All of us!" He cried, as more of the c'ieth started making their way forward.

"No time for arguing now, we have to defeat these things. Group up and take down as many as you can!" Robin shouted, trying to postpone the eventual shouting match. He himself pulled out an Arcwind tome, yet when he opened it up to use the wind spell, a bolt of lightning struck instead, followed by a chunk of ice and then a ball of wind. _'That's…different.'_ He thought, before putting his tome away and drawing his sword instead.

"There's almost like a flow to this." He spoke aloud, watching as Vanille effortlessly dispatched of a group herself, Robin forgetting for a second that the younger girl was much more experienced than everyone there.

With their new-found power, the group of unlikely heroes quickly dispatched their crystallised enemies. The reality, however, was much direr.

"We really are l'cie, huh?" Snow asked rhetorically, gazing at the new mark on his left forearm. The brand of Pulsian origin was clearly there, the multiple lines and arrows that it consisted of was more than enough to give it away.

"Yeah." Lightning half whispered, unable to believe it herself. Her mark she had had to look at secretly.

"We all are." Sazh added with a sigh, seeing his mark in the centre of his chest, only half visible from his shirt.

"What about you guys?" Snow asked, directing his question towards Vanille and Robin.

"Here." Vanille said, raising up her skirt, showing the l'cie mark on her upper thigh, making the men of the group look away quickly in embarrassment.

"Ooookay." The blonde spoke slowly, thinking the question that's on everyone's minds. Where even the fal'cie perverts? "You?" He asked Robin.

"Right here." The tactician replied, raising his left hand, the mark parallel to the crystallised fell brand.

Hope saw the brand on his right wrist, partially hidden by his scarf, unable to hold it in anymore, the silver haired boy fell to his knees. "I don't even know you!" The teen screamed. He glared towards Snow, before marching towards the tall blonde. "If you hadn't gone and attacked that thing we wouldn't be like this. You said Serah saved us. But this is her fault!" Hope yelled at Snow's face as best he could.

"Hey!" The brawler glared back, taking a step forward. The intimidation was enough to send Hope tumbling backwards. Backing away from the him, he ended up crawling into Lightning, which may have been the worst idea he had had since the soldier sent an even harsher stare towards the teen. This was still her soldier he was insulting.

"Just leave me alone." Hope whined, crawling into a ball.

"Like it or not, we're all in this together." Lightning spoke. "Heavens knows I don't like it. But right now, we need to escape from here. PSCICOM will be creating a perimeter, and we need to escape that net."

"She's right. The army will already be searching for any survivors. If we don't start moving now we'll all be in trouble." Robin agreed.

"Who died and made you leader?" Snow asked jokingly, directing his question more towards Lightning than Robin.

"Serah." Was her curt reply walking away, leaving Snow to recoil a bit, before shaking his head, his resolve slightly shaken, but unbroken.

Sighing, Robin waited till everyone else started moving before raising his left hand. Once again, he had been become an instrument of destiny, his fate decided for him, again. But as he had done before, he would defy it. Similarly, to the Shepherds, this new group weren't just pawns of some unscripted fate. As soon as they all fought the fal'cie, they too, had become bound by invisible ties. Steeling his resolve, Robin set forth to catch up with his unlikely companions.

They were quick to discover that they weren't the only beings in the fal'cie to survive the fall. The initial group of c'ieth they had defeated was just the start. The smooth surface of the crystal was almost ice like, but Lightning and Snow just seemed to glide along it as if it was natural to them. How Vanille could keep upright in her heels confused Robin to no end, the smaller surface area should've had her falling to the floor in heaps.

"Since we're all stuck in this mess, we should probably make rollcall." Snow suggested. "Name's Snow, Snow Villiers." He said, not waiting for a reply.

"Sazh Katzroy." The afro haired man introduced.

"What about you short stuff?" The blonde asked the young teen.

"Hope. Hope Estheim." The white-haired boy answered, not meeting his eye.

"Vanille, and that's Robin." The Pulsian girl said, introducing herself and the tactician.

"What about her?" Hope asked, pointing towards the ever-advancing soldier.

"She goes by the codename 'Lightning', last name Farron. Only one person knew her first name." Snow revealed, knowing that his future sister in law wasn't a people person.

They soon came across a large metal protrusion, it appeared it had once been part of the railroad that they had been while in the train. The group had remained silent since they had all introduced themselves to each other, but Snow had been consistently looking at the tear in his hand.

"Y'know, we still need to figure out our focus." Vanille piped up. The girl really was more knowledgeable than she let on. The girl reminded Robin a lot of Morgan in a way, always being peppy but had her own personal issues she had to deal with. In both Vanille's and Morgan's cases it was their memory, while in Morgan's case it was a lack of them. For Vanille, it was the pain of knowing what she had done, and it haunted her through all the time Robin had spent with the bubbly girl.

"And just how, pray tell, are we going to do that?" Lighting asked sour faced.

"Well the stories say that when a human becomes a l'cie, its fal'cie gives them a task to complete. But they don't spell it out in black in white, all you get is a hazy glimpse." Sazh explained, which caused everyone to look at his suspiciously, wondering how he could have known that so well. Seeing the group stare at him, the afro haired man flinched back, raising his arms above his head in a show of innocence. "According to the stories."

"So, we just have to figure out the hazy image that you may or may not remember? Perfect." Robin sighed out. It's not like he had already done this before, somehow.

"But that's just the first part, figuring out what to do with it? That's out job." Vanille added.

"Best thing to do right now is see what everyone's dream was then." The tactician suggested.

"You've been quiet." Lightning pointed out, looking at Hope. "What did you see?"

"Well, it looked like some big creature. I don't know what it did, but it looked like it was doing something. Like the sky was falling, or that something was falling out of it." The teen explained.

"Ragnarok." Lightning and Snow said together.

"Wait, are you telling me we all had the same dream?" Sazh asked, surprised.

"It's not surprising honestly, we were all branded at the same time, so being given the same Focus sounds natural." Robin replied.

"I don't like it." Lightning said. "It's too vague."

"Serah told us to save Cocoon." Snow spoke up. "That's gotta be our Focus. It makes sense!" He argued trying to convince everyone.

"Open your eyes boy, why would a Pulse fal'cie want to 'save' Cocoon." Sazh glared.

"This is taking too long." The soldier announced. "Unless you guys want to be caught and purged, then I suggest moving." She finished resolutely, walking away.

"She's right. We can continue our discussion on the way, something like this is too important to not talk about." Robin agreed. _'This isn't good, we are disorganised and argumentative. The only synergy we have is between myself and Vanille, we won't last long like this.'_ The tactician spoke to himself as the group advanced in silence.

Vanille continued to walk beside him, it made sense really, he was her pillar of support without Fang being around. He knew she was trying to help them before, but they had just devolved into squabbling and infighting.

"You doing okay?" Robin asked the pinkette.

"Just peachy." She smiled back, though Robin could tell it was her fake one, keeping up her cheery façade in case the rest of the group was listening in.

"Alright, but tell me if anything happens. We can't have anything happening to you otherwise Fang will tan my hide." The tactician chuckled as they started walking on up a hill. Ahead of them, Hope was struggling to keep his footing. Snow offered to help, but the teen 'politely' refused.

"Woah!" Vanille cried, losing purchase on the crystal floor.

"I gotcha." Robin said, grabbing a hold of her hand to keep her from falling. But he was barely able to keep footing himself.

"Thanks Robin." The young girl apologised, regaining her footing.

"Be careful, you'll only slow the rest of us down." Lightning called from her perch atop the hill, standing perfectly poised on top of a spire, before elegantly hopping off of it.

"Normally I would say show off, but I think she would hear me and my head isn't as hard as Snow's." Robin whispered, earning a chuckle from the Pulsian girl. "But we do need to keep up with them all we'll be left behind."

Regaining their footing, the out of place duo redoubled their efforts in climbing the crystal hill.

When they made it to the top, everyone else was waiting on them. Snow held the tear in his hand towards the sky, the artificial moonlight reflecting through it. "We all saw Ragnarock, right? What if our focus is to stop it." He suggested.

"You're obsessed." Sazh groaned out. "Boy, we're Pulse l'cie. I repeat, PUSLE l'cie. Tell me, why would a Pulse fal'cie want to save Cocoon?"

"Serah was a Pulse l'cie. She turned to crystal when she us to save Cocoon." Snow argued. "That meant she achieved her focus."

"Shut up." Lightning glared at him. "Just shut up Snow. We need to keep moving, and if you keep stopping us with your pointless prattle PSCICOM will catch us in no time."

Snow opened his mouth to argue, but the sounds of feet impacting the ground stopped him from saying anything. Before they could even react, they had been surrounded by soldiers in black clothing. Their weapons trained on them. One man stepped forward, a gun in his hand.

"Hand's to your heads!" He shouted.

Not seeing any other option, they all followed the man's request. Lightning shooting a glare Snow's way who only smiled sheepishly in return. The pink haired girl muttering something under her breath, something which didn't go unnoticed by the man.

"Are you talking back to me?! HUH?!" The man questioned, trying his best to sound threatening.

"Nice gun." The soldier answered, elbowing her captor in the face. Knocking out cold.

Unsheathing her sword, she charged forward. Slashing with practiced precision and grace, she broke free from the encirclement and drew the soldier's attention.

"Can't let her have all the fun." Snow grinned, punching the closest man in the face. Breaking his face guard.

"I wouldn't call this fun, exactly." Robin reprimanded utilising his new magic. "We need to stop this internal fighting. It won't do anyone good."

"There's just too many conflicting personalities kid. Ain't your fault." Sazh responded, firing his pistols.

The soldiers were quickly dispatched, for being elite soldier's they sure didn't seem like it.

"I thought these guys were supposed to be the cream of the crop?" Hope asked, surprised.

"These guys where just the grunts. Overgrown boys flinging their toys around, too eager for glory. PSICOM elites are cold blooded killers, as soon as they hit the field it's game over." Lightning explained. "So, I suggest you all shut up and keep moving." She added, glaring at everyone.

' _As a leader, Lightning brings a commanding shadow and an even more commanding figure. She moves forward at her own pace, but expects others to be able to follow. A soldier through and through. But the single greatest combatant I've ever seen.'_

* * *

They soon came across one of the trains they had been transported on. It mainly lay buried beneath the crystal lake, but some of remained above. Creating a makeshift slope for them to descend upon. As the went down it, something seemed to catch Robin's eye. Standing, embedded into the ground, was Serah. Still encased in her crystal prison. Just before he could point it out, he felt something run into him, knocking him over.

"Serah!" Snow cried, running towards her.

"Robin." Vanille spoke up, checking on him.

"I'm fine. But did anyone catch the number of that truck." The cloaked man joked, causing Vanille to giggle.

"He is such an idiot." Lightning glared, following the blonde brute.

"Need a hand?" Sazh asked, holding out a hand.

"Thank you, Sazh." Robin replied. Taking a hold of the hand, and stood up with the older man's help.

"Anytime kid." The afro haired man smiled, the chocobo chick in his hair chirping in agreement.

Nodding at gun wielding man, Robin walked down the remnants of the train to join the others. Vanille had started to try and help Snow in his pointless endeavour. All the while Lightning just glared at the man, conflicting thoughts were probably running through her. Torn between her duty as a soldier and her nature of being an older sibling.

While he found the point futile. The tactician couldn't help but admire Snow in what he was trying to do. While his devotion to his fiancé was amazing and something to be commended. His stubbornness in refusing to see past her blinded him to the overall task at hand.

"Let's get a move on, nothing we can do for her." Lightning grumbled.

"You're not going to get her out?!" Snow shouted aghast.

"We don't have any tools, it would take us days, maybe even WEEKS to get her out of that. By that point PSICOM would have this place locked up tight." The pink haired soldier answered.

"Leaving her alone! Sister of the year everyone! What is PSICOM get a hold of her, they'll know she was a l'cie!" The blonde-haired man argued.

Lightning's reply was a swift takedown of the rebel leader. A devastating right hook and uppercut combo sent Snow sprawling to the ground. Lightning's panting could only be the sound of her withholding her rage.

"If we stay here we'll be in even worse trouble! How can't you get that through your thick-!" She shouted in anger.

"AHHHHH!" The shrill scream of Hope resounded as he came running towards them.

Somehow drowned out by the shouting contest that Snow and Lightning were having, no one recognised that a partially destroyed scorpion like machine had awoken itself. It floated in the air above the train carriage, before landing in front of the. Parts of its hull exposing the fragile circuitry that it housed. It's left 'claw' was completely missing and its tail had some parts broken off.

"Even this thing survived the fall?" Lightning questioned.

"You ready for round two you overgrown bug?!" Sazh shouted at it, drawing his twin pistols.

As if reading the challenge, the machine raised its head in a silent roar. The pieces that acted as its face separated to reveal a charging beam, ready to fire.

"Move!" Robin shouted, everyone dodging to the side as a beam of concentrated energy passed them by, impacting the crystal wall behind them. "We can't afford to be hit by that."

"Thanks for stating the obvious." Lightning growled at him.

Ignoring the volatile solider, Robin took a better look at the machine. Conjuring that much energy had put the machine in a temporary standby. The fractured hull sparking at the places were the circuitry was open.

"Water and Lightning. That's the elements it's weak too." The tactician stated. "Snow, take point. Anyone that can use the magic I just said, aim for the open parts."

"Gotcha Robin!" Vanille smiled back at him.

Having seemed to recharge, the mecha scorpion gave off another silent roar. Readying itself into a battle position.

Snow's close range fighting got him within the range of the mech quickly. But he had to retreat once the circular sawblade sparked to life. It swept its remaining appendage across the crystallised floor, leaving marks into the hard material.

"Gonna need some help up here." Snow frowned, trying again only for the same result to happen.

"Lightning!" Robin implied, only for the pink haired woman to already be on it.

The silver haired man smiled, everyone was working together to get rid of the threat. But he frowned realising how fragile the alliance was. They were only working together to get rid of the larger threat.

"It's not so tough." Sazh smiled. Electricity fuelled bullets being fired from his pistols.

"We just have to keep going to it falls." Robin replied, as he called down thunder.

Despite being partially destroyed, the machine would not go down so easily. Its tail fired off intermittent beams of energy. It always seemed to hit, as if it had a lock on feature. It was only thanks to Vanille that they were all kept up to shape.

But still Robin frowned, he had looked behind. Hope wasn't participating in the battle, in fact he was hiding behind Serah's form, holding his head in fear. He couldn't blame the young teen for being afraid, he had been thrust into a position he couldn't fully comprehend. Propaganda and media had cemented false truths to him. Not to mention his mother had died before him. He felt sorry for the boy, but just like Snow, the man he had come to hate, he let his emotions control him. While not necessarily a bad thing, Chrom had done the same thing for the most part. But unlike Chrom, Hope's emotions were fuelled by fear and hate. Chrom used the love for his family, his friends, for his people to empower him. To drive him forward. He hoped that Hope would let go of his hate for Snow before it was too late.

"Keep going, it's almost down!" Robin shouted bringing himself back to reality. The machine seemed to feel pain. It flinched every time it took damage. The small explosions that came from it probably meant it was on its last legs. "Hit it with everything you've got!"

Four different strikes of thunder hit the in its exposed circuitry. At the same time, Snow delivered a powerful haymaker to the scorpion's face. A massive explosion launched the machine onto its back, flailing around in pain before it's movements stopped. Finally, having been put down.

"Thank goodness." Robin sighed out, sheathing his sword. He was finally getting a hang of the l'cie magic, but he still missed his Levin Sword. He was hoping he could find a replacement for it soon.

"Hmmm, we need to go. That took way too long." Lighting grumbled out.

"You're still just leaving her?" Snow asked frustrated.

"If anything, we now have a higher chance of being caught in the net." The pink soldier answered, walking away.

"Fine. But I'm going to stay with my fiancé." The brawler replied, turning back to Serah's form. Picking up a metal spike from…somewhere. He started using it to try and dig Serah out.

"Snow." Robin spoke up, walking towards him.

"Don't worry about me kid. Heroes never die." Snow smirked, turning around.

' _Snow. I've heard of many heroes dying. All because of me. Heroes die, but their memory lives on.'_

"Just try to be safe." The tactician sighed out. The man had made his decision.

"If we you don't move now, you're going to be left behind." Lighting spoke aloud.

Sighing again, Robin walked towards where Lighting was standing. Honestly, he didn't want to leave Snow behind. The large man had a big heart, but he had decided on what he wanted to do. And everyone else had decided too, they had decided to keep moving.

And so, they carried on. One less man among the roster to help them move. Looking back one last time, Robin turned away. He nodded to himself, and noticed Vanille smiling at him. But he could see her eyes holding a sadness for leaving Snow behind. The white-haired man shook his head and gave her a nod. The blonde brawler being left behind to do what he believed was what.

* * *

 **A/N: Not gonna deny that that last half of this chapter felt rushed. You'll probably have noticed that my writing style changed partway through the chapter too. That's mainly because I had the first half of this chapter written all the way back in May! I just hit a roadblock which I've only now just been able to clear.**

 **Anyway, hate it, hate it or hate it. Leave your comments in the review, all criticism is still welcome. So don't be afraid to roast this to shreds. And I'll see all you guys next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: 10 Months it has taken me to update this story. I'm not proud of that at all. But I will explain why. In an update I did to some of my other stories I explained my irregular update schedule in more detail, something which I forgot to do with this story. I'm a university student, and I'm about to enter my third year of my course which is Computer Science. This means I have to do my dissertation this year, and last year I had a lot of semester long projects I had to do. One of which was making a game demo with a group. Another reason, for this story especially, was that my PS3 died and I couldn't remember how the early plotline went, namely for the events in this chapter. That killed my motivation for wanting to write this chapter specifically, especially since the next chapters are funner to write. So I apologise to all of you who have been waiting for this and I will try and get another chapter out as fast as I can. Now onto the reviews:**

 **Animeandgamerlover2: Sorry it took so long sorry that it took longer than last time.**

 **OccasionallyCompetent: Despite how irregular my update schedule is, I will never discontinue a story.**

 **Tempest Law: Thank you, sorry it took so long for another chapter.**

 **PrometheusDark: Yeah, the group is so diverse it's no wonder that they split up the way they do. And yes, I wouldn't hold your breath on that. Lightning is Lightning at the start, and a friend of mine says she's the biggest child of them all. I will admit, Sazh and Robin will have a bond over parenthood, but Robin will have to be careful on how he tells it.**

 **Andromeda: Sorry it took so long. And I don't think I'll do that, Cid isn't really a villain and more a victim just like our heroes. It would feel a bit out of character for him to do that.**

 **Kamencolin: Sorry it took so long for another.**

 **MadcapErikaSparkl: Yeah, took a long time to get out. There will be a bonding moment down the line. And I'm gonna keep that a secret for a while.**

 **Guest: I'm sorry! I know the pain of waiting for chapters as a reader, but now in the writer's shoes I can see how it can be hard to get them out consistently when the muse won't work with you.**

 **Gruffard: It's continued, its a bit difficult to not rush the start of FFXIII considering it's all corridor's and story event's for the first three hours.**

 **That was a lot of reviews. Anyway, onto the chapter:**

* * *

Chapter 3- A Chance Find

The journey across the crystal lake was arduous at best.

Since they left behind Snow, the group of l'cie had been encountering more and more PSICOM soldiers and machinations. But they remained unskilled adversary's, merely grunts trying to prove their worth.

Some enemies, however, had proven more trouble than they were worth. A hulking machination that Lightning had informed was known as a Behemoth, was one such of this category.

Robin only prayed that Snow was still doing okay.

Currently, the group was overlooking a ridge. Down below, soldiers were mulling around. Standing guard and being assigned orders. Others were mobilising, establishing a perimeter around the lake.

"PSICOM's on the move," Lightning commented, kneeling down. "Trying to close the net."

"This much effort and money into something like this. How the hell does the government get away with crap like this?" Sazh asked angrily.

"As far as the people know, we're only being moved to Pulse. But why carry the threat there, why not stamp it out here," the solider explained.

"Good riddance," Hope whispered.

"Hope?" Robin questioned.

"Anything from Pulse is evil," the silver haired boy stated matter of factly.

"Alright you, that's enough." In a rare outburst of anger, Vanille took hold of the boy's wrist. Before noticing the l'cie brand on his wrist, her fury dying down with it.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Hope rived his hand free from her grasp.

"Getting angry over it isn't helping anyone," Robin stated.

"We need to keep moving," Lightning said standing up. "If PSICOM is already here then we haven't got much time," she added already continuing on before anyone else could react.

Robin sighed running a hand through his hair. Regret filled him. Snow may have been an idealistic idiot, he was the only one that seemed to even have been trying to keep everyone together.

"You alright kid?" Sazh asked him, the chocobo in his hair giving a light chirp.

"Just…frustrated you could say," the tactician replied.

"I know what you mean," the older man agreed. "But I know where the kid is coming from."

"How so?" Robin asked.

"Fear affects the young and the old alike," Sazh answered. "We're told every day that Pulse is hell on earth, that we have to be prepared to move at a moment's notice."

"I guess I never really understood the need to fear something I never understood," Robin replied.

"You've got a good head on your shoulders kid, better than mine. We'd best catch up to soldier girl, don't wanna be left behind, right?" The afro haired man chuckled.

Nodding in reply, the duo left the ridge with a small jog to catch up with the rest of the party. Ahead of them was a set of ruins, orange crystals that had once roared as flames made the area more beautiful than it probably should have been.

"Less chatting, more moving. Next time I'll just leave you alone," the pink haired soldier complained, not even bothering to turn back towards them.

Robin couldn't even be bothered to sigh that time. In the short time he had known the pinkette, it was clear that she was no nonsense. She was always at her own pace, which seemed to coincide with her namesake.

Still, he continued on following her lead. More battles fought, and just as many battles won. Robin could feel himself growing stronger through each passing battle. Yet he couldn't help but feel that his abilities were being limited. That there was more power inside of him waiting to be let out, but, for whatever reason, he couldn't call upon it.

He observed as his fellow l'cie were becoming stronger too. While Hope was still too afraid to fight, the power radiating from him was resounding. Had he been with them in Ylisse, he was certain the boy would have been a magical powerhouse.

Sazh, however, seemed to be lacking. Maybe it was his age, but he did not radiate as much strength as everyone else did. The weapons he wielded were another story. Robin had read about how, in this world, they had found a way to find a way to propel small, metal objectives at high velocity's. The sheer power behind it scared the tactician. Had they existed in his world…Robin dared not think about it.

The soldier of the group had taken to her new powers as if they had always been there. Elegance and speed dominated her combat style. She was as deadly as she was graceful, a true warrior in every sense of the word.

It was no surprise that Vanille was as strong as she was, she had been in a war, just like himself. While Hope also had access to healing magic, from a brief glimpse from when he had been caught by a passing projectile, he still refused to use and form of magic. The fear he had for all things from Pulse would, hopefully, fade in time. But for now, the outwardly cheerful girl was there only way to recover from any lasting injuries.

Then, they came across a new enemy that Robin hadn't seen before. It was another PSICOM soldier, but their armour was regal in appearance. In their hand, they carried a small spear that extended when they attacked. The armour gave them some form of propulsion with how quickly the man struck.

Their enemy then assumed a stance, the shoulders of the armour opened up and seemed to draw in energy from around them. Robin didn't know what they were up to, that was until a bolt of lightning struck around him.

"Magic?" Vanille asked with concern. "This guy's a l'cie too?"

"It's a manadrive. The suit does it all for them," Lightning answered. "Human's can't use magic so they invented a way to create similar effects."

"Just means we have to beat him up quicker," Sazh added firing his pistols.

"He's completely venerable when he's charging. That should be our time to attack." Robin deduced.

The fight went smoothly after that, now that the element of surprise the man had had been lost. Lighting then identified the man as of the Executioner class of PSICOM soldier's. They were above the usual grunts, but they were much more merciless.

Eventually, they came too a long hallway. Crystallised flames lined the edges while a giant wall of the orange crystals was in front of them. Robin had to admit that if he wasn't in mortal danger the sight was quite beautiful.

"Stay close," Lighting advised.

It seemed as though his thoughts on the area was shared by Vanille as she ran ahead to get a closer look at the crystals. That was until she started running back towards them, and a giant wyvern like creature burst through the side wall and came charging towards them. Robin still wasn't sure how she could run that fast in heels.

"Damnit," Lightning cursed. "It's a Garuda Interceptor."

"A what?" Robin asked.

"A bio-engineered beast at PSICOM's beck and call. It's been enhanced by technology to be an even deadlier weapon, with the complete obedience of a soldier," Lightning explained.

That sounded…completely horrific. No wonder normal civilians never stood a chance against the armed forces if they could call upon creatures such as this one. Did that mean every machine they fought under PSICOM's forces were once normal creatures?

Robin could ponder that later, right now they needed to defeat the creature in front of them. Electricity crackled along cables attached to the Garuda's wing span. Thinking up his plan, the tactician hoped that the flying beasts of this world were similar to the one's from his own.

"Wind magic will disrupt its's flight and Water will disrupt the electric current's. We should try avoiding using any thunder magic, it might make it stronger," Robin delivered as he felt the magic within in gather into his left hand. He drew his sword in his right hand, it was getting close to breaking and he would need a replacement soon.

Following the tactician's orders the group, minus Hope who was hiding behind a stone column, unleashed everything they could at the flying creature. It's attack patterns generally involved sweeping its tail or some electric based spit attack that was difficult to avoid.

As they continued to whittle it down, the creature let out a roar before rushing further down the hall.

"We've got it on the ropes," Sazh cheered.

"No, we don't, it's up to something," Lightning replied.

On cue, the Garuda swooped upwards, revealing a second mouth to the group. This one held a large orb of concentrated electricity that it then launched towards them. Once it hit the ground, the orb expanded and Robin could feel the electricity coursing through him. While he had been quite resistant to magic in his own world, this wasn't the same type and he had no adequate protection against it.

A soothing warmth filled him as he felt his wounds close and let him feeling invigorated. The white magic spell came from Vanille, who was now busy healing the others after the attack.

"Thanks, Vanille," Robin smiled pooling his magic for another attack.

"No problem Robin," the Pulsian girl replied as she healed Sazh.

The battle was longer than Robin expected, the Garuda was much stronger than any enemy they had fought before. But the unlikely group were able to defeat it. The creature roared as its wings stopped beating, it fell to the ground in an unceremonious clump.

Robin wasn't sure why, but when the Garuda was defeated he felt new power well up inside him. As if new paths that were once locked were now open for him to increased his power.

"Whew, glad that's over with," Sazh commented, out of breath.

"Hey, was that there before?" Hope spoke up, appearing beside them. He was pointing in the distance.

Lying against the wall was a white ship on a launch pad.

Gazing at the ship in wonder, Vanille clapped her hands together. It seemed their luck was turning around.

"This will make things easier," the Pulsian girl cheered.

"Knowing our luck, it's probably missing an engine," Sazh commented.

"You shouldn't be so negative," Vanille scolded attempting a pout.

"And you shouldn't get your hope's up," the afro-haired man replied walking towards the ship.

"I think it's better to be optimistic than pessimistic to be fair," Robin added following the man.

"See, someone get's it," Vanille cheered joining them.

Inside was five seats, three of which had a stand in front of them. There was a large console with an object that appeared to have two handles on it. Although Robin couldn't help but find it extremely convenient for them, he wasn't going to ask questions now and took the seat in the middle.

"Alright, let's start this thing up," the afro-haired man said as he started pressing buttons on the console.

Light's lit up all around them as the ship came to life. The force that it created forced Robin back into his seat, especially when they started moving forward. The sheer speed they were moving at was unlike anything he had felt before. It was even faster than the machine the used to get to the Fal'cie.

As the rose into the sky, more ships appeared behind them. Ships similar to the one that destroyed the bridge before were in front of them preparing the same cannon they used against the bridge.

Beams shot towards them, Sazh was able to avoid them but Lightning grabbed onto one of the handles of the steering mechanism. Apparently, she had found a firing button and they were able to destroy one of the ships that created a blockade above them.

"Did we get 'em?" Vanille asked with optimism.

"We got one of them," Lighting replied as she kept a hold on the wheel.

"Stop that," Sazh asked as they went in around a pillar. "I said stop!" He added before slapping the soldier's hand away. "You want to die?"

Flying up through a tight ravine was one thing, but doing it while be fired at by other ships was definitely not an experience Robin would want to go through again.

"How are we gonna lose them?" Hope asked.

"You got me kid," Sazh replied trying to focus on not crashing.

"Then let me," Lighting commented.

"No, thank you," Sazh responded sternly. Knowing Lighting, her plan would be to fight them.

As they finally launched out of the ravine they could see clouds and a ship like object in the distance.

"Is that…a Fal'cie?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, it controls the weather as well as the night and day," Sazh responded before more bullets flew past the windshield. "They're still on us?"

Dropping down, he entered into another ravine, they're followers doing the same. As they went further along, there was a tight gap that had some rock above it.

"Hang on," Sazh advised as they got closer. Pressing the same button Lightning had done before, he shot at the rock overhang as he flew below it. They were able to pass through safely, but they're followers weren't so lucky and were blown up by the falling rubble.

Knowing they we're in the clear, at least for now, they surged upwards back into the sky. Sazh let out a sigh of relief. "Glad that worked."

"I could've done that," Lightning huffed.

Looking at the stand in front of him, Robin pressed a finger against it. A hologram appeared in front of him that had a woman talking about something. Vanille had also done the same, so there was an echo of the same person speaking.

Sazh had also brought up something on the console that looked to be an image of the Pulse Vestige before he slammed his fist against the console. "For the love of all that's good," he growled out.

" _Next, an update on the status of the Purge,"_ the woman on the screen echoed. _"Just moments ago, the Sanctum announced the successful conclusion of the Purge along with the safe arrival of the Cocoon migrants to their new homes on Pulse."_

"I'm surprised that they're comfortable talking about this to the public," Robin commented.

Sazh shook his head as the hologram then changed to that of an elderly man. He wore white and purple robes and had a purple and gold headdress on with a white see-through veil.

" _Yes, that is correct. There's no denying the enormity of the strain the Purge placed on us all. But, given the tens of millions of lives at stake, there truly was no alternative,"_ The man expressed with displeasure.

The screen then pulled back to show a new reporter. _"Primarch Dysley stood by the move, stressing the necessity of the relocation. When asked about the possibility of future Purges, the Primarch remained noncommittal stating only that he'd seek counsel with the Fal'Cie Eden and weigh all options before making a decision."_

"Yeah, that's right. If it makes the Sanctum look bad, it never even happened," Sazh commented.

Vanille pressed some more buttons on the screen and it brought back the man from before, Primarch Dysley.

" _In all of the centuries since the War of Transgression, Cocoon has been spared Pulse aggression, and prospered for it. It is essential that we maintain this peace. That is the Sanctum's focus,"_ The man spoke before the screen switched to another moment when he was speaking. _"We will continue employing every resource available to combat these threats to the harmony of our society."_

"What that means is that we'll be running for the rest of our lives," Sazh chimed in again.

Robin had been fortunate in that one of the books he had read while in jail explained the government system of Cocoon. Unlike the monarchy's of Ylisse, Plegia and Valm, Cocoon had a democratic system. The Primarch was elected in through popular vote, and Primarch Dysley had been continuously voted for years.

"Hey. Ummm, who is this guy?" Unfortunately, Vanille wasn't so well informed.

Sazh sighed in exasperation. "I mean, what do they teach kids these days?" The man asked rhetorically.

To give Sazh credit, Vanille had been asleep for 'who knows how many years' and she wasn't originally from Cocoon so she wouldn't have known anyway.

"He's Galenth Dysley. The Sanctum Primarch," Sazh listed off before sighing. "Murderer-in-chief."

"Just another tool of the fal'Cie," Lighning added.

" _According to our insta poll, nearly ninety percent of Cocoon citizens agree with the Sanctum's handling of the Purge. Seventy percent of respondents said they would also support additional Purges were the need to arise,"_ the female reporter added.

"That many people would support possible friends and family being moved to a place that they consider to be hell? I don't know how to feel about that," Robin commented.

He remembered back to when Chrom told him of his father's sins. How the man crusaded across another country because he believed them to be evil. Neither side agreed with his convictions and when he died, it was Emmeryn who was forced to pick up the pieces. It had taken years for them to forgive the royal family for their sins. Yet these people were fine with how their fellow citizens were being treated. Just how much propaganda was being forced down their necks?

"Just Purge everybody. That'll fix it," Sazh added with anger.

That was when the cockpit shone red and a blaring noise resounded around the room and shut off all of the holograms. Bullets shot passed the windshield once more. They'd been found.

"Strap yourself in folks, it's about to get bumpy," the afro-haired man informed as he sped them forward. "Point's for perseverance," he added as they became blinded by light.

As they regained their vision, the fal'Cie from before came into view. This time a large glowing orb was radiating power and heat. Despite how it looked, Robin still felt disappointed at its artificialness.

"Wow," Vanille whispered aloud. Impressed by the sight.

"A Sanctum fal'Cie up close and personal. Cocoon's own light in the sky," Sazh explained, before crying out as they took a hit while they were distracted.

"Fly in. We'll lose them in there," Lightning advised.

Taking the order, Sazh flew closer to the giant machine. The crackles of power that radiated from it taking form as an ever-changing obstacle. One ship that was following them was unfortunate enough to fly into one of the forks of power and exploded on contact.

"I like this fal'Cie!" Sazh commented.

"I don't!" Robin replied. This was probably his least favourite of the ones he knew.

They continued weaving between then, but even Sazh wasn't skilled enough to avoid them all and they were eventually hit by the fal'Cie. Unable to keep in the air any more they started tumbling towards the ground. Robin grabbed onto the desk in front of him to keep himself from moving around too much.

As the ground came closer, he closed his eyes and prayed to Naga that they wouldn't be too injured on their crash landing.

 _'We all have our differences. Men and Women. Human and l'Cie. King and Peasant. Its these differences that separate us. Fear of the unknown and of change. It's probably why we did what we did. But I had my own reasons too.'_

* * *

 **A/N: And done, once again I'm sorry about the wait. I couldn't remember how the latter half of Lake Bresha went and I was too lazy too look it up.**

 **I was tempted to add Snow's battle with the Shiva Sister's into this chapter. But I'll leave that up to you guys, it might just mean we see a new character too. Anyway gonna leave some of what Robin's game info would be like.**

 **Robin:**

 **Max Stats- HP 23500, STR 1600, MAG 1600**

 **Primary Roles- Ravager, Synergist, Saboteur**

 **As a Ravager, Robin can learn the -Ga level spells of all elements except for Waterga and Blizzaga. Robin can also learn all Elemental Strikes.**

 **As a Synergist, Robin can learn all abilities except for Veil and Vigilance.**

 **As a Saboteur, Robin can learn all abilities except for Daze and Poison.**

 **Secondary Roles- Commando, Sentinel, Medic**

 **As a Commado, Robin can learn all abilities except for Blitz.**

 **As a Sentinel, Robin can only learn Provoke and Eavde.**

 **As a Medic, Robin can learn all abilities except for Raise.**

 **Weapon- Elemental Swords: These weapons are made entirely of their element. E.G. The Ice Sword will be completely made of a singular razor sharp Icicle.**

 **Tier 3 Weapon- Ultima Blade: Based on the Black Magic of the same name, the Ultima Blade surrounds the Elemental Sword with an purple ethereal glow.**

 **Unique Ability- Ignis: Synergist tree. When Ignis is cast, all allies gain increased uptime on all current buffs of 300 (-Ra spells gain increased uptime of 100) seconds and grants allies a unique buff that boost's their based STR and MAG by half of the over. This buff is separate to Bravery and Faith and their -Ra versions and they will increase stats based off of the base value with the bonus from Ignis stacking afterwards.**

 **What do you think of that then? Reason why Robin can't learn Waterga and Blizzaga is because those elements don't exist in Ylissean spellcraft.**

 **Anyway, review on how you thought of the chapter and I'll see you guys next time.**


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